A multi-layered plan coming together to a T is one of the most satisfying feelings in the professional world. But in the realm of high school? That’s even more satisfying, especially when it’s a project that has real-world application … and implications for the betterment of society.
Last Friday at the River Forest Public Works Department at 45 Forest Ave., Oak Park and River Forest High School seniors Isaiah Ruehle-May and Thomas Milinovich, along with Lorenzo Garavaglia, an Italian exchange student in his junior year, tested a prototype of their induced current cathodic protection (ICCP) system, which already has a U.S. patent (No. 12297546).
Any concerns about the 30-minute test were quickly quashed by the results. The prototype produced three times the expected output wattage.
“I’m really happy with the results,” Ruehle-May said Saturday. “I didn’t expect it to go this well.”
In layman’s terms, metal pipes rust and corrode over time and the process to stop that from happening is called cathodic protection. Typically, especially in urban areas, the local electric utility will run current through the pipes, which stops rusting. In rural and remote locations, that’s less viable because the electric utility may be hundreds of miles away. There is the cost of cabling to run that far out, plus there is energy loss over the distance.
The turbine-induced ICCP system, conversely, generates that power onsite, and is capable of long-distance, low-cost protection.
“This could protect about 10 miles of 8-inch pipeline,” Milinovich said. “When scaled up to a normal oil diameter of about 24 to 32 inches, it would be able to protect the same 10 miles of the larger pipe because it can generate more power.
“This system effectively allows you to bypass the need for long-distance cabling, solar panels or gas generators in remote areas by using the kinetic energy of the water.”
On Friday, the students arrived at the public works facility about 7:15 a.m., where staff there helped them connect the turbine-induced ICCP prototype to a water hydrant. After it was connected, they tested it for a half hour at several flow rates – from 150 gallons of water per minute up to 425 gallons, where it achieved that maximum 12 watts of power.
Ruehle-May started this project about two years ago, and six months in brought on board Miliniovich to help develop it. That was propelled forward by their enrollment in OPRF’s engineering, design and development class. There, the pair united with Garavaglia, who developed computer simulations of the prototype to illustrate how it would work in the field.
OPRF High School engineering students Isaiah Ruehle-May and Thomas Milinovich set up their demonstration Induced Current Cathodic Protection device at River Forest Public Works on Tuesday May 5, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
OPRF High School engineering students Lorenzo Garavaglia, Isaiah Ruehle-May and Thomas Milinovich set up their demonstration Induced Current Cathodic Protection device at River Forest Public Works on Tuesday May 5, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
OPRF High School engineering students Isaiah Ruehle-May and Thomas Milinovich Isaiah Ruehle-May set up their demonstration Induced Current Cathodic Protection device at River Forest Public Works on Tuesday May 5, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
OPRF High School engineering students Thomas Milinovich, Lorenzo Garavaglia and Isaiah Ruehle-May set up their demonstration Induced Current Cathodic Protection device at River Forest Public Works on Tuesday May 5, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
OPRF High School engineering students Isaiah Ruehle-May and Thomas Milinovich Isaiah Ruehle-May set up their demonstration Induced Current Cathodic Protection device at River Forest Public Works on Tuesday May 5, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
OPRF High School engineering students Thomas Milinovich, Lorenzo Garavaglia and Isaiah Ruehle-May set up their demonstration Induced Current Cathodic Protection device at River Forest Public Works on Tuesday May 5, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
OPRF High School engineering student Isaiah Ruehle-May sets up a demonstration Induced Current Cathodic Protection device at River Forest Public Works on Tuesday May 5, 2026 | Todd Bannor
Their teacher, Ryan VenHorst, said this was a “pretty ambitious” project.
“It’s the capstone project for the engineering branch of our technology and engineering department,” VenHorst said. “The work on the idea was already developed prior to the course, but in making something that’s testable, they’ve been working on it. To say I understand it is a bit of a stretch.”
He chuckles when he says this, but point taken, considering the year-long course practices three smaller projects on the front end, including building a solar water heater. They didn’t get started on the prototype development part of the course until November.
“I definitely had to tell them on the front end to be realistic of what you can do in 48 minutes a day in four to give months,” VenHorst said.
Ruehle-May’s dad, Paul May, said his son has always been a curious kid who was tinkering as a youngster in the workshop above May’s garage, taking apart lawn mower engines and even trying to build a nuclear reactor.
May is the general manager for the DuPage Water Commission, so he sees how the prototype could work in the real world. But that speaks to the fortitude his son and his cohort have. By the way, Ruehle-May and Milinovich, who have known each other since their time at Lincoln Elementary School in Oak Park, were recently named Eagle Scouts from Troop 16.
With graduation coming later this month, Ruehle-May will head off to Iowa State, while Milinovich will attend Lafayette University in Easton, PA.
“I’m definitely going to keep pursuing this in college,” Ruehle-May said. “Now that I have a protype that has been tested, it might help me build a full 32-inch model.”